Copycat
by Demon of Zero
Summary: Was it really such a good idea to forge his way into Beacon Academy with no prior training? Jaune Arc hadn't thought too much on it at first, but a strange encounter with a stranger girl quickly made it apparent that he wasn't as ready as he thought he would be. But apparently his looks were good for something, because that same girl thought he was cute enough to propose a deal...
1. Chapter 1

So this is a thing I wrote. Little more to say on the topic. This is a different take on the ever-so-popular "Let's give Jaune some powers." idea that I myself have already taken one shot at.

I don't own RWBY at all if anyone is concerned.

* * *

Jaune Arc was on top of the world as he strolled through the streets of Vale, taking in the scenery. He had made it into Beacon Academy, the most prestigious academy this side of Remnant! He was going to be a Huntsman and protect the innocents of the world from all the things that were out to get them.

He was finally going to do it. Against all odds, he was finally on his way to becoming the hero he had always dreamed of being.

And all he had to do to get this far was lie and cheat his way into a position he had no training for. It hadn't been hard to find a forge, but finding a good one had been painful; luckily, he'd managed to find a rare gem in the form of "Junior", the gruff owner of a nightclub in the city itself.

After he'd made it clear just what he wanted, having learned of the man's connections through a bit of asking around, the man had rather blatantly taken matters out of his hands. 'Kid, you wanna be a hero? That's fine by me. But around here, heroes ain't worth much. I got a guy, and I'll do the talkin', you just make sure you got the lien.'

And just like that, suddenly he had top-notch forgeries in hand and the man had spared him little more than a grunt of acknowledgement as he left the night club.

Applying for Beacon had been a bit intimidating, but his forgeries were excellent. He was able to get through with little scrutiny, just another Huntsman candidate with a decent record taking on the challenge of being one of the best.

It was easier than he would like to admit, to lie to others. Jaune hated just how good he seemed to be at lying.

But it worked. That was all that mattered in the end, wasn't it? He would learn how to be a Huntsman, and then his deceit would be irrelevant in the face of all the good he would do.

Shaking himself from thoughts of future exploits, the teen instead turned to the now. He was hungry and a good meal sounded like the perfect way to celebrate his acceptance to Beacon.

Briefly, he circled in place to see if any of the nearby buildings seemed like a good place to eat. There was one, actually, that looked like a nice little cafe; he wondered idly just what all they had, he could definitely go for something like a sandwich and then a generous dessert.

Never before had Jaune been so thankful for the relatively inexpensive nature of his hobbies, his inclination to take chores around the house upon himself, or his frugal nature with money. Back when he'd lived at home it never seemed to matter that he always had a large stockpile of lien from his allowance, or helping out neighbors, or doing extra chores. But out in the real world, it'd prepared him for the pains that came from living on your own, even if you were doing so out of a hotel room as a temporary measure.

As he began to step towards the cafe, something else caught his eye. A short girl with an outlandish color scheme of white, pink, and brown had just walked into an alleyway between two nearby buildings... and a small group of men were following right on her heels.

Jaune didn't even hesitate to turn and walk directly after them; there was no freaking way he was going to let some girl be mugged, or worse, when he could see it happening and step in!

And so he quickly followed into the alleyway after the group, forgetting one rather vital thing about himself in the process.

After launching a clumsy punch at the back of one man's head, managing to do little more than draw a curse from the guy who had been in the middle of laughing at the girl for letting them lead her to a secluded spot, Jaune was soon reminded of what he lacked.

Literally everything.

A follow-up punch hit air, as the man he'd sneak-attacked turned and drove a burly fist into his gut, sending the blonde reeling.

"Who the fuck you think you are, man?" The bigger man growled, a pair of dark brown eyes narrowing at the scrawny runt who'd sucker punched him.

"Leave the girl alone." Jaune grit out through the pain in his gut, trying his best to look intimidating.

It didn't work very well at all. "Dude, this guy for real?" One of the lackies chuckled, thumbing at the girl behind them. "She could probably do a better job than he did!"

As the rest of the small group began to laugh at that, the girl herself merely quirking a brow yet remaining silent, Jaune growled and charged forward again, fist raised high.

And he was, again, knocked back without much effort. "You know, man, I was gonna tell you to just fuck off; there's five guys here and you can't even handle one... but your face pisses me off." The lead guy, the one he'd punched, smirked. "So we're gonna rearrange it."

Jaune growled, but a fist to his face cut off anything the teen could say.

And that was pretty much how it continued. He would run in, try to land a hit, but the bigger man would summarily dodge and land a much more powerful punch.

It ended up with the Arc teen sprawled up against the side of one of the buildings, face bruised and lip bloody, covered in sweat from his attempts to fight. His armored chest, which had been ignored in favor of his stomach and face, rose and fell in painful pants. 'I guess I forgot I'm a wimp after all... I didn't even get the girl a chance to run.' The hope was that he would at least do that much even if he did lose the fight... but one guy had just trounced him while the others watched the girl.

Said girl, he could see her past the small group of thugs, merely regarded him with a curious tilt of her head.

She was pretty, that much he could say for sure. A white jacket, pink on the inside, cut off at the front just below her breasts. The back wasn't cut off, leaving the fabric to drape down to around thigh level. She wore a dark sweater beneath that, cut in such a way that, in conjunction with her pants, a tantalizing bit of skin was shown off just around her hips. Brown pants held on her slender body by a simple belt, with a pair of white, high heeled boots that were closed via several dark buttons, the boots being a chocolate brown at the very bottom and heel.

Her hair was pink on the left side, brown on the right, and fell in an almost hypnotizing cascade to her mid back, with just the faintest touches of white here and there in the pink. Several necklaces looped around her slim neck in varying sizes, the lowest hanging of them just above her rather generous cleavage.

And her face. She had such soft features, and such an innocent look to her... but her expression was far from what he would expect. She was surrounded by a bunch of goons who were threatening her, and the only person who'd noticed and come to help was thoroughly beaten down.

But those strange eyes of hers merely remained fixed on him, one pink and the other brown.

And then she blinked. Now they were both pink.

What? That was weird... and why had the guy stopped yammering on about beating him down? When did that stop?

Reality shattered like glass, and suddenly the face of the girl was much closer to his. Jaune gasped in surprise, before his darting eyes picked up signs of the remaining people in the alleyway.

All five of the men who had been mocking him and threatening this girl were groaning in pain, just barely able to get up off of the ground. "Y-you little bitch! You'll fucking pay for this!" One of them growled, an arm thrown over another's shoulder as they began to limp away.

The girl merely giggled silently, one dainty, gloved hand before her lips as the beaten thugs scrambled off. After a moment, making sure they had gone, the girl turned back to him with a small smile.

"Oh... I guess you had that under control, then..." He mumbled, wind taken quite thoroughly out of his sails. Yay, he'd gotten beaten up for no reason and made himself look like a loser in front of a pretty girl. So much for today being a good day.

A scroll was pressed in front of his face, and Jaune blinked at the sudden action before reading what was typed on the screen.

 _'Yep, all under control. But thanks for the laughs; I really needed that.'_ The girl giggled once more at the sour look that drew from him, bringing her scroll back to her and typing up something else as he glared. _'It was sweet, don't get me wrong, but you're just one kid and there were five men there; that was stupid of you to do.'_

He growled a bit in his throat, angry with a lot of things. Himself, this girl, the world, those guys... "Yeah, yeah... I get it; I'm pathetic. I swear, I'm gonna prove everyone wrong one day. I've already made it to Beacon, now I just need to make it through and I'll be so much better than I am now." He'd wanted to be a hero so badly, but he just never managed to prove enough talent to get into a combat school. So if he couldn't get in normally, he'd fake it and just get better from there.

The girl blinked at him, quirking one eye curiously... and then she burst out in laughter, which was somewhat disconcerting considering how she didn't make a sound more than just breathing. It was kind of disturbing to watch, like the sound had just been stolen from her entirely. That at least explained why she was using a scroll to communicate, he supposed...

But it did some pretty nice things to certain parts of her body, which his eyes couldn't help but be drawn to as the laughter caused them to move up and down. Short as the girl was, she was far from lacking in that department. They weren't huge or anything, but as close as the two of them were he'd have to be blind not to notice.

Oh man she noticed him looking... Jaune huffed, turning away with a flush. "Screw this... you're fine, I'm a mess, and I'm still hungry. I'm out of here..." As he began to stand, the girl pressed on his chest with one hand.

And try as he might, Jaune couldn't even budge her as he tried to stand. That was just not fair! How was this girl half his size so much stronger than him?

The answer came in the form of a scroll. _'Boy, there is no way you made it into Beacon without your Aura unlocked. Even if you somehow managed to fluke your way through the entrance exams, you would need Aura to get that far.'_ As though she was able to see the confusion in his eyes, the girl snorted silently at his ignorance before typing another line. _'You do know what Aura is, right?'_

As tempted as he was to say yes, Jaune figured she could tell he would be lying. "I don't know. Now let me up!"

She didn't. Another scroll message thrust into his face; the girl was typing them one-handed without even looking at the damn thing. _'You were serious about getting into Beacon, so either you're some kind of lunatic and legitimately believe you made it in... or you cheated. And, funny enough, I happen to know a man with a soft spot for the clueless ones. Does the name "Junior" ring a bell, kid?'_

His breath hitched, and Jaune knew she noticed it. God, she knew? Already his secret was blown out of the water, and by some girl he hadn't even met? What kind of luck did he have, going to try and do something good and kind for no reason other than he could, only to be met with this? It was infuriating. Was this what being a nice guy got for him? That was just not even right. No wonder people figured the nice guys finished last; he could sure see that.

This girl had a damn super power or something that let her run over those five guys like nothing, she could hold him down with _one freaking hand_ , and she was aware of his biggest secret all in the first five fucking minutes he'd met her.

... Jaune was close to tears out of sheer frustration. And to think, the day'd been going so well too.

Seeing his distress, the girl frowned. _'You know they'll slaughter you at Beacon, right? Even if you get in, the initiation is going to kill you. You should quit now before you get hurt.' _The emphasis put on the words "slaughter" and "kill" were obvious due to the fact that it was in text.

Jaune flinched, but turned away. "It doesn't matter. I know I don't have some special freaking powers or anything, but I still want to help people. Is that so wrong? Am I gonna just be a pathetic waste of space for the rest of my life?" He spat out, feeling that same lingering distress he'd always had.

He had always, ever since he could remember, found himself so _jealous_ of people with talents he lacked. Jaune hated himself for it sometimes, that he couldn't just be happy when one of his sisters showed off something she was good at, or when he heard of the deeds of those heroes out in the world today. But whenever someone did something worth praise, it made him feel all the more inadequate.

Because he didn't get praised for being talented, not ever. If he got anything, it was because he'd just been nice. Oh, thank you for cleaning the kitchen honey! Thank you for doing the dishes! For sweeping the house!

He was like a freaking maid, and it was all because that was all he could ever even _do_ to get that praise because he was never, ever, never even close to as good as anyone else at _anything_ and it always made him so angry, hurt him so bad, brought the self-esteem issues he'd always had so much closer to the surface...

Every time someone displayed some unique talent or ability, Jaune couldn't deny the fact that he envied them. That he wished he could do such things.

That he wished he could be special, too. That envy... as much as he hated to admit it, Jaune couldn't deny that it was a part of him, a large part of him at that. As much as he tried to keep it forced beneath his usual smile, that same negativity was always there.

Jaune sighed, hanging his head and forcing himself not to cry with what little dignity he could still hold onto. "... just... go away, please. I don't even want to get up anymore... but please just let me sulk here in peace." With only the stinging of his face and ache in his stomach to keep him company, constant reminders that he was just as much of a screw up as ever, even if he was now a screw up on his way to Beacon.

He was just so drained after all of this.

The hand on his chest moved, but not how he'd wanted it to. Rather than leaving him entirely, the girl merely moved her hand to his chin and rather forcefully directed his attention towards her scroll.

 _'I may have been a bit too harsh on you. Even if you didn't need to help me, you at least **tried** to.' _The emphasizing of the word 'tried' with bold text was noted and not appreciated by Jaune, but he carried on with reading. _'It's not right for the damsel to let her knight in shining armor go unrewarded... even if you ended up being the one saved in the end lol.'_

Jaune's growl of displeasure seemed to be the cue the girl was waiting for, as she promptly dropped into his lap. Grunting at the sudden impact of a girl literally flopping onto him, the teen moved to ask just what the hell this girl was doing just before she claimed his lips for herself.

She was kissing him!?

Yes, and rather vigorously at that. The smaller girl had pressed him entirely against the wall, her petite rump settled in his lap and legs loosely wrapped around him as she continued her relentless assault on his mouth.

For his part, Jaune was equal parts confused and aroused; the crippling depression and self-hate had been pushed out rather quickly by the strange girl and her stranger actions.

After a good thirty seconds of the girl furiously making out with him, Jaune did something he would have earlier considered strange and tried to push the girl off of him, to demand just what the hell she was doing.

Except, again, she was way stronger than him. As such, he succeeded in doing little more than inadvertently copping a feel.

That terrified him, as this girl had just ruined five grown men while he'd failed to even fight one, but she merely pulled back for the briefest moment to flash him a devilish little grin that he couldn't help but find immensely hot... before she went right back to practically raping his mouth with hers, even going so far as to grab the hand he'd accidentally fondled her with and moving it back to her breast.

This was his first kiss for crying out loud! Weren't those supposed to be the cute little awkward pecks couples gave each other? Not the full blown snogging session he was currently engaged in!

After a few more _minutes_ of this, the girl drew back. Jaune's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the thin, shining string of saliva that remained connecting their mouths as if it was the final piece of evidence of the previous events.

His heart was absolutely hammering in his chest right now, and the Arc teen wasn't entirely ashamed to admit he had a raging hard-on at the moment. There was a beautiful girl still seated in his lap after she had just finished _dominating_ his mouth with her own. How could he not be full mast?

Judging by the very small flush on the otherwise monotonous girl's face, she had at least had fun. Who's reward was that supposed to be again?

His breathing still ragged and his eyes still wide as saucers, Jaune slowly opened his mouth to speak. "W-wha?"

... It didn't really work. His mind was damn near shut down right now.

The girl giggled, one slim little gloved finger pressing up against her lip as she regarded him with a positively sultry expression. The other quickly presented her scroll. _'Did you like your reward, boy?'_

"Uh... uhm..." Jaune stammered, blushing rather intensely as she shifted in his lap, the girl clearly making note of his arousal. "Y-yeah." He eventually choked out, unable to look at her.

The scroll came into his field of view again. _'We're not done yet, though... you still haven't figured out just what happened, have you?'_

"Wait, wha-!" He was cut off by that same strong hand at his cheek, which drew him back into the girl's waiting lips once more.

Damn it, what the hell was with this girl!? Any other day and any other situation he would have thought this was the best thing, but right now Jaune was damn near feeling violated by the incredibly aggressive girl and her advances.

As she pulled back again, that same devilish grin on her lips, Jaune couldn't help but realize that his face and stomach didn't hurt anymore. '... is she actually kissing me better? What the heck?'

 _'Oh, I know that look. You starting to figure it out? You were glowing like a lantern a minute ago, you know.'_ The girl's scroll read, the item once more shoved in his face.

"W-what the heck did you do? Do you have some kind of healing power or something?" He stammered out, backing his head away from the girl and her soft, pink lips...

She sighed silently, rolling her eyes. _'Still not getting it then. You really didn't know what Aura was at all, did you? Huntsman need it to survive; it's your soul manifesting into a shell that protects and heals the squishy parts inside.'_

"S-so you had to k-ki-kiss me to heal me?" The boy stumbled over the word kiss, partially because he was so new to the very idea of the female form when it came to proximity to him and partially because what she'd done to him was hardly something he would call a kiss.

Another sigh. _'You're not so bright, but luckily you're cute.'_ That was a backhanded compliment if he'd ever heard one...

"Ow!" He griped as the girl headbutted him suddenly, her forehead colliding with his own and slamming the back of his head into the brick wall behind him. "What the hell is your problem!?"

 _'Don't whine. It didn't hurt, did it?'_

Seeing that text, Jaune realized she was right; he really didn't feel anything from that. Maybe a bit of a thump, but it was really muted.

Manifestation of the soul into a shell, protecting the parts inside... and now he wasn't feeling pain from something like that, not nearly as much as a headbutt that sudden should've brought on. "... You...?"

 _'Yes. I unlocked **your** Aura with mine; and let me tell you, boy, if you have one thing going for you it's size.' _She grinned at him, again shifting positions and drawing attention to his less than little problem. _'I mean your Aura, that is. You've got so much more than me it's actually really impressive.'_

Jaune wasn't entirely sure how he felt about that... "Uh... thanks?"

 _'If you want to thank me, shut up and actually participate this time.'_ Was the last thing he saw of the scroll again before it was replaced by the girl's face as she drew him in for yet another mouth-rape session.

But this time, Jaune felt a bit more confidence and actually _participated_ like she asked, his arms sliding around the girl's neck as he felt himself lean in to indulge her more.

... damn her for being hot and damn his hormones for making it so easy to give in. He'd at least refrained from grabbing her chest again, though he was kind of tempted since she seemed okay with it...

The impromptu makeout session ended again minutes later with Jaune's heart hammering, as the breathless boy stared into the eyes of the slightly flushing girl mere inches from his face.

Those eyes of hers were so alluring. Pink and brown, and they seemed to switch colors every so often. It was a mysteriousness that he couldn't help but find attractive, and not entirely in the way that his current predicament may have implied. There was just something mesmerizing about it, an almost hypnotic effect to her that he just couldn't ignore.

Suddenly, those eyes widened; the first real change in the girl's expression he had seen since meeting her... roughly fifteen minutes ago.

"What?" He asked through his panting, unsure of just what the girl was suddenly so interested in.

Blinking at him curiously, the girl in his lap- how had he not even gotten her name yet despite this whole situation!?- reached into her jacket and retrieved a compact, flipping the pink plastic lid up and revealing a mirror that was shortly forced into his face.

"What in the world?" Jaune mumbled, his own eyes going wide as he realized just what was going on.

A pair of pink and brown eyes stared back at him, and this time they didn't belong to the girl.

The mirror was replaced by a scroll. _'My name is Neo. It's short and sweet, just like me... and I think we're going to have a lot of fun together, my knight in shining armor.'_

Jaune gulped.

* * *

The city of Vale was a good place to hide out for those who were on less than stellar terms with the law. Being the sprawling metropolis it was, the city itself was positively rife with hidey-holes and safehavens for all sorts of individuals who didn't get quite care what was or was not illegal.

One such individual had chosen himself a particularly cozy hideaway; located away to itself on the ass-end of the city, snugly situated within the ever-so-innocent presence of a business he'd gotten through completely legal means.

The fact that the business in question was an ice-cream parlor was a decision he would never regret; having a steady supply of his partner-in-crime's favorite addiction on hand was always a wonderful thing, especially when the girl was a cold-blooded killer who very well may slit his throat in his sleep if he were to deny her said frozen treat.

Roman Torchwick was not in any way ashamed to admit that Neopolitan was a terrifying little thing. Her strength, skill, and speed were all top-notch in the first place, leaving her with an absolutely infuriating method of fighting which revolved around dodging like she was just a feather on the wind. Her knowledge of the human body and control with her Aura made the simple sword sheathed in her umbrella a weapon just as lethal as his beloved Melodic Cudgel, her vicious and cunning nature made her just as wily an opponent as Roman had often prided himself on being, and the complete silence she moved with gave people fits when it came to tracking her.

And this was all before considering that absolutely spectacular jackpot of a Semblance she had managed to pull out of whatever lottery determined that crap.

Infiltration, assassination, information gathering, extraction, distraction... her fucking Semblance did it all. She could disguise herself as anyone or anything, even going so far as to make herself damn near invisible. She could create fully three dimensional illusions that were so lifelike they were impossible to tell from the real-deal, and moreover?

She. Could. Fucking. Teleport.

That last bit was just not even remotely fair and Roman absolutely adored having it on his side. And the fact that he willingly supplied his cute little killer with copious amounts of ice cream in whatever flavor she desired only assisted in keeping that jackpot of an ability firmly with him, in addition to the rather... bizarre friendship they had formed.

Their relationship was strange in that the two of them were close... but it wasn't something either of them were really willing to acknowledge, not to the other at least.

Roman himself was self-aware enough to know why he felt best leaving it unsaid just how much he enjoyed Neo's presence; it'd be a show of weakness that his entire lifetime of crime had taught him to refrain from. Friends were tools to be used and thrown away as needed, because in this world thinking of them as anything more only led to exploitation either by said friends or others who came to know.

He had no intention of ever abandoning or throwing away Neo; regardless of her status as his closest confidante, she was far too valuable to even consider letting go of. But Roman would admit freely to himself that he valued her as a simple companion as much as he did a partner in crime.

Only to himself, however. Because that was how their world worked. Even if Neo was just as sappy on the inside as he could be, even if letting her know would only strengthen her loyalty to his cause, there was no way he was going to come out and just _say_ how much she meant to him. It was just the way he'd been used to operating and not much was going to be able to change that.

The ginger-haired thief chuckled, straightening his bowler hat and regarding the television on the other side of the well-furnished room with a grin. "Oh, look, they're talkin' about me... joy." He mumbled with a sardonic humor that did little to hide his dissatisfaction.

Therein lied his latest problem; an "alliance" of sorts with one miss Cinder Fall, who had forcibly recruited himself and the leader of the Valean White Fang of all people into her fold.

Roman Torchwick did not tolerate others trying to give him orders as though they were above his station. He had worked long and hard to reach the position he had and to be demeaned so plainly by that woman positively infuriated him.

But he refrained. Because Cinder Fall was powerful, so much more so than he could handle.

He never had believed in fairy tales and magic and the like; hocus pocus made up for children's shits and giggles. Nothing worthwhile, just old folklore that didn't die out.

Until his new employer had forced him to input research because of how ridiculous her abilities were. His resources were nearly endless, a testament to just what he had built over the years, and the disturbing news that those old stories may be more than just that was spine-chilling.

The Four Maidens, wielding powers unimaginable, were not just myths. It took a lot of digging and a lot of subtle inquiries to even uncover this much, and his network had found some concerning signs when on that search.

Someone had been intentionally covering what little factual information they could find under as many layers of dust as possible, which only further affirmed the truth of the matter. Not only did they exist, but they were being purposefully hidden from the rest of the world.

That opened a whole new _world_ of possibilities. If the Maidens existed, what else could have been true? The thought of that got the nearly childlike excitement he always felt before a big heist burning up inside of him. Ancient legends about mystical powers had some truth to them? Then what about objects, artifacts, weapons? The possibilities were absolutely endless. Stories of ancient magical doohickies and thingamabobs were now more than just trash to throw out.

But it had to wait until he could worm his way out of Cinder Fall's grasp.

For now, he would follow her routine; dust stores, lay low, rinse and repeat.

"... So boring." He griped to himself, bringing one of his oh-so-wonderful cigars to his lips and flicking his lighter open. Holding the little metal contraption to the tobacco product, he lit the cigar and took himself a long, slow drag. Releasing a relaxing sigh and plume of smoke, the thief merely kicked back in his recliner and continued watching the mindless programming on the t.v., idly hoping for something interesting to crop up.

And lo and behold, ask and ye shall receive; not ten seconds after the thought entered his mind, Roman felt the arrival of his previously mentioned companion as she simply stepped into existence.

His brow quirked rather plainly at the sight of her company; she had some scraggly looking blonde kid in a hoodie and jeans. The rather pristine white armor at his chest did draw a bit of scrutiny, as well as the blade sheathed at his hip, but otherwise this very much looked like some random kid picked up off the streets.

... and knowing Neo that was actually entirely possible. The kid fell flat on his ass, eyes closed and one hand covering his mouth as though to keep himself from retching.

That made the thief snicker a bit; good ol' teleportation transport, probably flipped the kid's stomach in all sorts of ways.

And then the boy opened his eyes.

Roman's own emerald orbs shot wide as he took note of the bizarre color combination. The teen's eyes were that same unique brown and pink combination that his partner possessed, and as the boy blinked he noted the shift in coloration from eye to eye.

He stood up after a moment, taking another drag on his cigar as he did so. Exhaling, he turned to the ever-so-smug face of his murderous psychopath of a midget. "... Neo, originally I was going to question your tastes as far as a booty-call." The girl snickered at that even as her... uh... companion? Whatever the kid was to her. Well he turned a rather interesting shade of red as Neo laughed in that usual silent fashion of hers at his joke. "Seriously, tall blonde and scraggly? Never would'a thought you were into that." And then he suddenly dropped the joking tone. "But, well, that thing with the eyes? Rather unique. Mind explaining just who this kid is?"

The kid in question merely shifted some, into an actual seated position rather than just being flat on his ass.

 _'This is Jaune; I was luring some thugs into an alley to knock them around for ogling me, but he showed up before I could.'_ She paused for a moment to hide a snort of amusement, but it was clearly noted by both males. _'And he got his ass kicked hard. It was hilarious.'_ She bust into giggles again, going so far as to wrap her arms around herself in amusement.

"... It's not that funny." The blonde teen growled, a flush coming to his face even as he glared at the short girl making fun of him, knowing full well she was insulting his ability in a fight even without reading her scroll.

She gave him a look with a quirked brow, as if to say 'really?' without verbalizing it.

The teen relented. "... screw you, Neo..." He mumbled, looking away.

"Here I'd thought that was the point." Roman chimed in with a chuckle of his own, before motioning for Neo to continue even as the teen blushed in the corner.

 _'So yeah. Jaune here stepped in and tried to help. It didn't work. I enjoyed the sight of him getting beat up for a minute or two and then decided I'd deal with it, beat the thugs up, and started asking him just what he'd thought he was going to do to five grown men without any sort of skills to his name.'_ She frowned a bit here, glancing towards the teen subtly and keeping her expression away from the still flustered boy. _'Kind of a sore topic; he's got some inadequacy issues, methinks. Probably family, and he's not exactly the most amazing out of them if I had to guess.'_

Roman made a personal note to keep that in mind if he ever did bother to care about the kid's feelings, but otherwise merely gestured for her to keep going. He didn't exactly need all that, but it was helpful for sure, especially if those eyes of his actually meant something useful.

Rolling her eyes, the smaller girl continued typing. _'Anyway, get this; Jaune here met up with our good friend Junior for some forgeries to get in to Beacon Academy. And he's been accepted. With no Aura or prior training at all.'_

That did put a bit of a frown to Roman's face; Junior was usually far more careful than that. The big man did have a legitimate soft-side, something Roman found hilarious to some degree because the man practically doted on his left and right hand girls in the Malachite twins, but at the same time he wasn't an idiot. Forging a kid into Beacon when the kid had no chance in hell was a surefire way to cause himself some suspicion down the line, even if he did have his shit airtight like normal.

But the ginger haired thief ignored it in favor of continuing to read Neo's lengthy explanation.

 _'So because he looked so pathetic after I told him Beacon would chew him up and spit him out, I kind of decided I'd have some fun with him to cheer him up. He's like a puppy... it's really cute. He definitely perked right up once I started making out with him... in a lot of ways, I might add.'_ Neo snickered again, this time glancing very pointedly at the blonde's crotch.

"H-hey, Neo! Where the hell are you looking?" He yelped, mismatched eyes flipping around frantically in a display that Roman couldn't help but watch.

Damn was that weird. Those weren't just the same eye colors, those were like Neo's eyes right out of her head, just displaying more emotion in them than he'd ever seen. It was crazy and he knew for a fact there was some coincidence there. The kid had something going on that was copying Neo somehow.

But just what did he manage to copy exactly? Just her eyes? Or something more?

"If I had to guess it'd be your package, kiddo. On the plus side, anything is probably gonna be good sized compared to her." Roman snickered at the scandalized look it earned him from the teen.

 _'I'd say it's a decent size for anyone. He's got that going for him at least.'_ Neo typed out, showing her reply to Roman who couldn't contain his laughter.

"Oh boy, that'll be fun in the bedroom I'm sure. Good luck with _that_ , Neo!" He cackled even as the teen remained mortified in the corner, hands covering his face and cheeks scarlet. "But wait, no, no, don't try to distract me with all that stuff; what the heck is with his eyes? Do you even know or what?"

 _'Oh, I've got no idea.'_ She replied, waving the scroll about cheekily, much to his irritation. _'Some suspicions I guess, but nothing concrete?'_

"Shoot, Neo; I'm dying of curiosity here." He really did want to know just what was up with that, as there were some things that it could be that would make him a very, very happy person. Of course, if said possibilities were true, and if the kid was more... malleable.

 _'I figured I'd give the boy a little gift for being sweet... so I went to the trouble of awakening his Aura.'_ She paused for a moment, giving him a very pointed glance. _'Roman, the kid has higher Aura capacity than both of us.'_ Seeing his nod, and a quirked brow of slight interest, Neo's grin widened. _'I meant **together** , Roman.'_

That... that took him a moment to process.

He and Neo weren't the most Aura-heavy individuals out there. They weren't juggernaut kind of fighters at all, both of them playing more towards speed and finesse, himself more rugged and crafty and Neo simply fluid to a degree that was outstanding.

That said; they were two fully trained fighters at the level of a professional Huntsman. To have more Aura than the two of them and it was just awoken? That was nuts. Not particularly useful, since he had no training to speak of, but still. In sheer quantity, he could brute force his way through lesser fighters without any skill at all just by merit of hitting them harder than they could hit him.

"... Alright. That's actually something significant." He admitted, glancing towards the kid idly. "But the eyes are my main concern here Neo; those aren't just the same color as yours, they're exactly like your eyes in every way. That ain't normal."

If you asked him to tell the two of them apart just by the eyes, it'd be easy... but only because the kid wasn't like Neo at all. Neo was infinitely less expressive, and so the teen's easily detectable confusion set him apart.

The boy in the corner merely frowned at this whole conversation he was being excluded from, feeling the need to get involved. "Hey, uh... Neo. What'd you bring me here for anyway?"

A moment later a scroll was thrust in the kid's face, and a wide blush shot across his face. "W-wha-what!? You can't be serious! I've known you for like a half hour!"

Roman's eyes rolled as the kid began stuttering. Neo certainly had some interesting tastes, that was for sure. But if she wanted to shoot for the fruits that had only just ripened, who was he to judge? It wasn't him taking the kid to bed, after all. "Neo... staying on target please?"

She pouted, put off at not being able to play with her latest toy even as said toy continued to stammer and blush, looking between himself and her. _'I think I also got his Semblance working. And I don't know exactly what it does, but... well, the eyes are kind of a clue. You know what I said about issues with inadequacy? I think his Semblance is trying to answer that somehow.'_

That made some sense. A Semblance was often regarded as being a pure manifestation of one's soul into a power to outwardly interact with the world. In layman's terms, it was a superpower that was unique to the user in many ways. Some were, rarely, hereditary... but again, that was exceedingly rare. As in, he only knew of the Schnee family off the top of his head, and they were stupid famous so it'd take an idiot not to know of them in some capacity.

So if the kid didn't think he was good enough, was his Semblance trying to let him be someone else?

There were two major possibilities that could make this kid gold, and a myriad of others that would be silver at best and fools gold at worst.

Golden possibility one; he could either shapeshift or disguise himself on a physical level. That made for a very useful infiltration specialist and spy, and a thief being able to be one person one minute and another the next was always useful. Roman could always use someone with a talent like that, and if the kid was just a blank slate as he seemed to be then he may be useful.

The second possibility that would strike gold is that the kid's Semblance latched onto Neo's and was similar, manifesting much the same as her eyes did. That was a freaking goldmine in and of itself, because if he had even a fraction of Neo's powers he was going to be useful.

And then it kind of went down from there in terms of usefulness.

But above everything else, Roman did have one suspicion. If it was possible, and he _really_ did hope his little thought was correct, this kid would be worth more than gold.

What if he copied other people's Semblances? If he could just mimic someone else's powers?

Roman was getting ahead of himself though. They'd need to test it, and further he'd need to endear himself to the kid if he was trying to make use of him in any fashion.

"... right. Well, the kid can stick around. I don't mind it, really." Their safehouse was larger than needed in the first place, just because Roman liked to live in luxury whenever possible. It was useful in situations where they had a hostage or something, he supposed, but he wasn't really the type to take hostages. Far too much risk of it causing trouble down the line, in his opinion. "You gonna actually try and figure out what he's got going for him or what?"

Neo's grin practically split her face. _'In a lot of different ways, yes.'_ She replied simply, before skipping over to the teen who had only just managed to compose himself.

"Er, N-Neo? What are you doing?" The boy mumbled out, eyeing her much like a mouse would a particularly hungry looking cat.

Without a word, obviously considering just who she was, Neo merely placed her hand on his chest.

It was at this point the teen realized just what she was about to do. "Wait, wait! Hold on, don't-!"

And just like that, they were gone.

Roman sighed. "Well, that was entertainin' for a few minutes... wonder if she'll remember to try and work on figuring out just what his Semblance does or just screw him silly?" Aw well, whatever. As long as she didn't make too much noise he didn't care much what she did.

* * *

Stumbling, Jaune nearly fell on his face if not for the small hand holding him up. He glanced at Neo, who was giving him a tiny smirk.

She was totally evil. That was just not okay to do to people.

On the up side, it didn't cause him as much issue as last time. He'd been a bit more prepared for it.

Taking a look around, he couldn't help but gulp as he belatedly realized she had just brought them to a bedroom. Hers, he assumed, but really if he'd learned anything from the last forty five minutes or so it was that this girl just did whatever she wanted.

And then there was a scroll in his face again. _'I think you made a good impression on Roman. As good an impression as blushing, stuttering, and all around looking like a doofus could make, that is.'_ She pointedly ignored his glare in response to that statement, merely continuing to type. _'You've got your Aura unlocked now, and that's great and all... but you've got no idea how to use it. So you're better than before, but still not particularly good. You get it?'_

He flinched at that. "... yeah. I do." Jaune mumbled in response, unable to really deny it. He didn't like hearing that, but it wasn't wrong.

 _'Good. Then let's get to work on figuring out just what the story is with your eyes; they're still like mine. There's something there we can make use of, I'm sure.'_ That was really exciting to her. It was something new and interesting, someone who could, maybe, copy the things she did. Roman would be extremely pleased if they could get another one of her.

"You're going to help me?" The Arc teen couldn't help but ask, eyeing her a bit warily. "What are you getting out of it?"

 _'You.'_ Neo replied in short order. _'This will probably seem odd to you since you're just some kid trying to become a Huntsman, but relationships for people like me don't exactly work well. I don't have the time or the candidates for a regular boyfriend/girlfriend thing to work out. It's just not realistic.'_ Seeing his rather wary look, she rolled her eyes. _'Roman and I are both career criminals, Jaune; I'm not going to sugarcoat that. You're not exactly clean either with those forged transcripts, though.'_

She did have something of a point there, even if Jaune could definitely argue that he was only doing that so he could get into Beacon to become a Huntsman, and that he'd only do something illegal for a good reason... but really, that argument was kind of childish. It'd be like saying that she or her friend didn't have a good reason to do what they did, and he couldn't say that because, really, he didn't know their lives. They could have had way better reasons than him for getting into this crap, especially considering his reason was kind of petty in the first place.

So just as he opened his mouth to argue, he shut it just as quickly and just accepted that statement. He was a criminal too, just one who hadn't been found out yet. And he wasn't willing to argue that point with the girl who had already proven to be _far_ more dangerous than him.

 _'At any rate, I'm willing to help you get better. You've got a lot of Aura and that on it's own can be used to make you worthwhile, but the eyes changing means you've got a Semblance and it's already unlocked. That can give you a lot of options depending on what it does, but we need to find out first. And trust me when I say I can definitely help you learn.'_ She paused in her typing, glancing at him with a smirk. _'And all I want in return is some entertainment. No strings attached.'_

Jaune blushed a bit at the insinuation, figuring he knew just what she meant by entertainment. Things were moving really fast here, and he wasn't entirely comfortable with it...

... but she'd offered to help him get better. That wasn't something he could just toss out, because she was clearly stronger than him, not to mention the first person to really even bother helping him in that regard.

Was it worth it? If it really was just her wanting his body, strange as that sounds, wasn't that kind of a small price to pay? He'd been wanting to get a girlfriend, wasn't this what that would've led to eventually? He was just... kind of skipping some steps.

But still. It felt like he was making a deal with the devil. A short, attractive, and whimsical devil.

"... I don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to any of _that_ stuff, you know." He managed to mumble after a bit of consideration, cheeks red at the thought. "I've never done anything like that."

 _'That's fine by me.'_ Neo's response was quick. _'I hardly expected you to be some kind of ladykiller, Jaune.'_ She smirked at him, that same devious little look that he was starting to become wary of. _'Actually, I think it'll be fun_ _to watch you stumble your way through things. I'll be patient with you, don't worry about that.'_ More of her silent giggles came as she regarded him.

"A-Alright." Jaune stuttered out after a moment. "We've got a deal, I guess..." What was he really getting himself into here? This girl was a flat out criminal, and he didn't even know exactly what she _did_ even with the admission that it wasn't legal.

The multi-colored girl's face lit up. _'I'm glad. First things first, though. Can you actually feel your Aura at all? Try to remember what you felt like earlier and see if there's anything different you notice.'_

A little surprised by the sudden change of topic, he took a moment to consider.

Earlier, his body felt... well, normal. He'd just kind of been your average teenager, healthy in his build but not particularly strong or fast.

Now, though, he did feel a bit different. His body was still normal, he supposed, but there was something he could sort of feel. It was kind of like he could feel blood running through his veins, but _not_ at the same time. A sort of warm _something_ was around him, molded to his body but not constricting him.

Nonetheless, he could feel something different. "Yeah. It's kind of like I've got, like, a layer of something around me, but it's not even an inch from my skin. Does that make sense?" He wasn't really sure what he was supposed to describe it as.

Neo shrugged. _'Good enough. That'll be your Aura. Can you control it at all, move it around, anything like that? Just try to mess with it.'_ She waved her hand dismissively, as though to tell him it didn't really matter what he did with it.

Jaune hummed, trying to concentrate. "I can try." With that said, he began trying to will this force to move, eyes closed to help him focus.

It didn't exactly listen. He could feel a sort of push and pull between his thoughts and what he wanted the stuff to do, and what it actually did. It wasn't really accomplishing much one way or another, not that he could see.

Neo merely watched as the boy flexed his Aura a bit, managing to force a white glow off of himself from the disturbance. He was basically just expending energy for no real reason, but it did at least give her confidence that he could identify his Aura and start trying to manipulate it.

After a few moments, she walked over and lightly tapped his arm, drawing the teen out of his concentration. _'What you were doing there is pretty much just forcing your Aura up to the surface for no real use, so that's something at least; you can identify it and try to move it. Images help some when it comes to that, what were you thinking of? Anything specific?'_

"Oh. I was kind of imagining it like tug of war; I had to pull so much my way but the other side was pulling back almost as hard." He replied, chuckling at the thought of it.

 _'Okay. Try this, then; imagine yourself walking through a veil of water, and imagine someone other than you while you're doing it.'_ Neo was actually really excited to see if this would work, because it could be really fun. Jaune had copied her eye-color seemingly at random, so it could be any number of things, but she was really hoping that he ended up doing what she thought he did.

He blinked at her. "... Uh. Sure?" The blonde didn't feel all that confident, not really even knowing what this was supposed to do. But for the moment he trusted her despite his concerns, so he would go along with it.

Jaune closed his eyes, imagining himself in a white tiled room, like the showers at the public swimming pool. In the center of the room, drains at the ceiling started letting loose water in a single curtain.

And then he walked through it, with the image of Neo at the forefront of his mind.

A few moments passed, and he wasn't really sure anything had changed... but a sudden, rather excited series of taps on his arm drew him out of it.

Neo was in front of him, happily jumping up and down like a child at Christmas and frantically pointing towards the full-length mirror next to her closet.

Turning to look at himself and see just what he'd done, Jaune instead saw a pair of Neos.

He blinked in surprise, and one of them did too, while the other merely clapped her hands giddily.

"... I'm you?" He mumbled, his voice coming from one of the two Neo's in the room. The other merely nodded gleefully.

 _'Roman is going to freak out! Come on, follow me really fast; this'll be great!'_

Being tugged along by the girl, Jaune was shortly alerted to the fact that he was no longer Neo and was now, again, Jaune.

This drew a pout from the girl as she realized he had lost it. _'I suppose performance anxiety is something a first timer would encounter.'_ She typed up after a moment, giving him a playful smirk. _'Do you feel tired at all? Could you try it again, but this time as someone else?'_

Jaune nodded. "Sure... let me see what I can do." After a moment of concentration, imagining that same feeling of walking through a veil of water and coming out someone new, he let out a breath and opened his eyes.

Neo grinned at him. _'The shade of orange for the hair is a bit off, the eyes are too bright, and the skin is just a bit too dark a shade. The material of the jacket is wrong, and the brim of the hat is too small. You also forgot the scarf.'_

The faux Roman looked over the girl with wide emerald eyes. "Wow... you noticed all of that? I thought I'd nailed it." He glanced himself over again, realizing that she was right on multiple counts. Upon thinking about it, he could clearly see where he'd messed up.

 _'Roman has been my partner for years. I'd know better than most what he looks like, but it's a good try.'_ Truly it was. If he walked up to someone on the street who'd only seen Roman on the news then they wouldn't know the difference, but Neo could pick it out easily. _'Try changing into someone you've never seen before. Just imagine a new person and become them.'_

That... would take a bit, Jaune figured. Roman and Neo were people he had just seen literally moments ago, and he was apparently able to turn into them easily enough somehow.

It took a bit of doing, and he did take some features from characters from his favorite comic series as well as just random things he thought of, but shortly a new person stood before Neo.

She scrutinized the new teen briefly. He was clad in a pair of black dress pants, well polished dress shoes of the same color, and a blue button-down shirt. A silver chain necklace hung from his neck, but otherwise he had no real accessories.

His hair was a dark blue that neared black, his eyes an electric yellow. A small scar reached from the left side of his lower lip to his chin, small enough that it could have been caused by just about anything.

 _'Good. I recommend you keep making up new people, try to vary them as much as you can. Don't stick to just men, maybe look at some fashion magazines for ideas on outfits. The scar was a nice touch, at a glance it makes you look like someone with a bit of a history to them rather than just some girl's dream boy come to life. Try to do little things like that on all of them, not just scars though.'_ After showing this bit of advice to the disguised teen, Neo gave him a rather encouraging smile. _'You're getting it pretty quickly. This is one of the easiest things my Semblance lets me do, but for someone with no idea about Aura to get it so fast is still pretty good.'_

Jaune flushed at the praise, losing concentration on the person he had become and shortly falling back into his true identity with a sound like shattering glass. "Thanks. I'm... really happy to hear that." How long had it been since he was praised for doing something other than just being a nice guy? He'd aced a test on a lucky break once, a test most kids in his class had failed... and that was really the one time he'd done anything that was _special_. Other than that, it was just constantly a bunch of praise for just being helpful around the house.

Some girl he'd met like an hour ago was doing better for his self-esteem than his entire family had been up to this point. That was kind of sad, but he was in too good of a mood to care.

"Should I keep practicing it?" Jaune asked after a moment, feeling slightly winded by this point but not particularly tired.

This drew a wider grin from the girl, who stalked towards him slowly, her hips swaying hypnotically as she moved.

His eyes being so attracted to that motion in particular, it took Jaune a moment to realize that her scroll was in his face again.

 _'No, you can be other people later. For now, I'm going to have my fun with you.'_

* * *

So here you have it. Jaune with an ability to copy the Semblances of others.

His Semblance follows some rules that I've thought up, it's got limitations on it.

I don't expect to update this often. I'm posting it mainly just because it's been sitting for a bit, and it'll be something I am planning to update, but it's somewhat slow and as of now, for instance, I've got no work on a second chapter done and don't know when I would get one made.

So. Jaune has the ability to copy Semblances to some degree; I'll go ahead and say right now that his copied ability is not as strong as that of the person it is taken from. It has some disadvantage to it that the original user would not have, such as increased cost as far as Aura use, limitations that may not have existed, ect. His relationship with Neo here is just as it sounds; she's bored, he's cute and interesting, and she doesn't get much in the way of physical relations. Could it develop more? Sure, maybe. Or maybe it could not.

Maybe I just like writing Neo and Roman. Who friggin' knows?


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, I'm back. More Neo and Roman in the chapter because I adore them. We've got some set-up stuff, Neo and Jaune interacting, and a special surprise visitor in the form of a certain Beacon student.

I still do not own RWBY if we're doing these disclaimer things.

* * *

Looking out over the city of Vale in the early hours of the morning always brought a smile to Roman's face. Seated in the kitchen of their safehouse, having propped himself upon the counter with a cup of coffee to wake him up all the way, he could see right out the fairly large window due to the currently open curtains.

His humble abode on the third story of the building, a cozy little ice-cream parlor going by the name of A Scoop A Day, had a fairly nice view due to it's location.

The view hadn't been one of Roman's deciding factors when scoping the place out. The location was sound for him as far as inconspicuous activity went, considering it was a little bit outside of Vale proper. A road lined with some houses here and there, leading up the hill all the way in a series of twists and turns, would lead to the top of the hill. And right off the road alongside a few nondescript stores, a three story building that had once been home to some store or another before he'd had Neo, in disguise of course, present a sum large enough to get the owner to find a new place of business.

Criminal he may be, but extorting some down on his luck salesman who could then become a loose end was just _sloppy_. Setting up an accident would have also been silly, as the scrutiny would not only kill the chances of the business picking up but also draw the wrong kind of attention to the place.

So legal means it had been, though the way the lien had been obtained was far from it of course. He had standards.

Back to the view, however; it wasn't a real decider for the place, not at all, but damn did Roman appreciate it. He couldn't see _all_ of Vale from here, but a good portion of it was visible due to the elevation of their little place.

And it brought a smile to his lips, because this was _his_ kingdom. His stomping grounds, his territory, and he really did love it in his own way.

Roman Torchwick was no patriot. There wasn't a soul in this world who would tell you otherwise without you point blank laughing at them.

But having said that, Vale was his _home_. The majority of his criminal network was based in and operated out of Vale, and he himself was _the_ criminal in Vale.

If the Schnee Dust Company was the monopoly on Dust, Roman's underground empire was the monopoly on crime.

Others could try to compete, but they just didn't match up. And anyone who raised complaints about it suddenly became much less vocal due to application of... gentle coercion.

And he was fine with his lack of influence elsewhere, really. Atlas was hell for organized crime, a military dictatorship painted up all pretty by Ironwood and his ilk. No one but the locals could operate in such a harsh environment, an ironic and unsurprising fact considering the history of Atlas in the first place. It's harsh climates and barren lands kept the Grimm at bay, and the massive military presence did much the same for outside crime looking to set up shop.

Vacuo was a cesspool. At one point it may have been the kind of place Roman would like, a luxurious paradise of a kingdom, the jewel of the dessert. But now it'd turned into a roughneck, backwoods, bar brawling nation of lunkheads due to the interference of other kingdoms and the laziness of the Vacuans themselves leaving them unable to contest their lands.

He had his fingers in some pies over there; but hell, so did everyone else who fancied themselves a criminal. There wasn't such a thing as a monopoly on crime over there, considering how scattered and half-assed things were. They weren't organized enough for that.

Breathing in deeply, he had to admit one thing about Vacuo; the coffee was divine. Compared to the stuff from just about anywhere else, there was no contest. That scent was intoxicating, and it only made the sight of Vale in the quiet early hours even more pleasant for him.

But that left Mistral, then. And boy did Roman have thoughts on Mistral.

That place was a lake filled with piranhas... but at the bottom was a chest filled with treasures never before seen. And everyone and their brother knew about it.

The black markets of Mistral were legendary. You could purchase anything if you had the lien for it and the sense to keep yourself alive long enough to use it. His holdings there were more steady than what he had in Vacuo, an actual branch of his network had grown into that kingdom rather than just the falling leaves rippling in the desert sands.

He had a fair few safehouses and hidey-holes in Mistral as well, he had semi-legitimate holdings, and his name was well known. Before Cinder Fall had come along, expansion into Mistral had been a thought at the front of his mind.

Roman really did love Vale, though; it was the center of the world. Sanas was a continent that saw frequent use as far as travel went, and that made it a splendid base of operations. It was good to be on top here.

A small frown slipped to his lips, a growl making it's way up his throat. "Be nice if that was still the case..." He griped aloud, gripping his mug somewhat harder before calming himself, lest he shatter the damn thing and spill his coffee. A sip of the drink later had calmed his ire somewhat, but not quite enough.

He hated this. Hated working _under_ someone after working so hard to rise to the top. It was infuriating.

But he had to do it. Cinder Fall was too much for him, too much for _Neo_ , and there wasn't enough information for him to even try and oppose her yet. A Maiden was something he wasn't set to deal with, considering their status as freakin' fairy tales.

Forcing the thought from his mind, Roman again turned his gaze outside, letting the calming effect of his quiet morning and the beautiful sight of Vale work it's magic.

It lasted a bit before the silence was broken by the tiniest of noises, an almost inaudible padding of bare feet on the tile and a rustle of cloth.

Roman turned to greet his partner and ask just how her boy-toy had been last night, but upon seeing her he merely stared.

The girl tilted her head, a dreamy little smile on her lips, as she waved at him with her fingers. Her eyes were their usual pink and brown, and half-lidded in such a way that conveyed a pleased sort of exhaustion. Her hair was down, with a few stray strands here and there.

Her lower body was bare if he had to guess. The only thing she seemed to be wearing at all was a black hoodie with, of all things, the Pumpkin Pete rabbit logo on it. Those soft little legs of hers were on display, though the modesty she clearly didn't give a shit about was still preserved by the oversized clothing item falling just a bit below her thighs.

Altogether... "... Neo, what the hell happened to you?" Roman couldn't help but ask, as the girl was more disheveled right now than he had ever seen her before in the entire time they had been working together.

Even when she was wearing her casual around the house stuff, she still carried herself with that dignified and smug air about her. The pink booty shorts and the crop-top with ice cream cones on it were hardly dignified, but her hair was never out of place and she retained that same gait that he would often compare to a predator stalking it's prey, even in her down time.

Right now? She was padding about like a kitten rather than a lion, that little smile on her face not so much out of place on her as it was lacking in any undertone of malice.

In response to his question, the girl merely blinked.

And then Roman saw something he had never expected in all his years of living.

Neopolitan began blushing.

Neo. His favorite murderous little psychopath, who could be manipulated via copious amounts of ice cream, who killed people just as easily as she gave them her name, whose expressions always hid a knife... was now blushing like a schoolgirl.

Her hand came to cover her face almost _shyly_. A silent giggle came from her, before the girl snatched herself a mug, poured the rest of the pot into it, and _skipped_ off.

Roman blinked. "... holy shit." He mumbled, mildly disturbed.

A few moments later another noise came to him as he heard much louder steps coming down the hall. Not loud in that they were stomping, but loud in that compared to Neo's near silent steps- which was another thing he realized, the fact that he had actually even _heard_ her footsteps in the first place was unusual- they may as well have been.

"Oh, there's my h-hoodie... Ack!" And then a thump alerted Roman to the fact that the blonde in question had likely just been slammed against the wall. Judging by the silence in the hall for the next few moments followed by the stuttered and stumbling response of the kid, Roman could infer he'd just been greeted very physically and affectionately by Neo. The next words only served to confirm this. "G-good morning to you too, heheh..." The teen mumbled, before continuing on far enough to find the kitchen.

And at that, Roman had to do a double-take.

Whereas Neo was as out of sorts as he had ever seen her, the kid looked right as rain. "Ah. Hello there, uh... Roman. C-can I call you that? You don't look like the kind of guy who'd like to be called mister."

Again the criminal mastermind blinked.

Aside from the missing hoodie, an improvement if you asked him, the kid was like he had been yesterday except with a pair of ocean blue eyes rather than the mismatched pair Neo boasted. Further, he seemed even better than the day before; a night with her had apparently boosted his confidence something fierce, because the kid stood straighter now and his eyes weren't near as nervous as before.

That was... useful, he supposed? If the kid wasn't a nervous wreck then he and Neo could definitely work their magic, influence him to make decisions with _their_ benefit in mind.

Of course, it wouldn't be for free; just as Neo enjoyed the heights of luxury at her whim, the kid would be rewarded similarly should they establish a working relationship of sorts.

Roman replied after a moment. "... Roman is fine, kid... anyhow, this is gonna be a weird question to ask, but I just gotta know; what the _hell_ did you do to Neo? I... I think ya' broke her." Neo had taken many a man for a ride, and none of them had seemed to elicit that kind of response from her. It was fairly likely this kid was her first time with a virgin, though. Maybe she got a few extra kicks out of that?

At that rather sudden question, and recalling quite a few things about the night prior, Jaune had the decency to blush. "Er... well... we did a _lot_ of things..." The teen reached up and rubbed his head sheepishly. "But, uh... basically we just kind of... kept going. Until she was, uhm... s-satisfied." He coughed, embarrassed, and made it a point not to meet the other man's eyes.

"... okay." Roman nodded, making special note of the fact that he had specifically stated _she was satisfied_ rather than _until he couldn't go on_. Which implied that _Neo_ had tapped out first in that sheet-wrestling match, and that was absolutely galling to hear because she was a trained killer who had run through small armies of men without breaking a sweat. "Right. Well, I'm glad to see that everyone in the household is doing well. Though seeing Neo in that hoodie of yours was rather jarring, I must admit..." Her fashion sense was typically much better than that.

If this kid lacked in experience, he damn well made up for it with sheer stamina it seemed. That wasn't exactly useful information to Roman as he certainly had no plans to take the kid for a swing in the sack, but he couldn't help but admit that managing to outlast Neo in bed was something that more _qualified_ individuals had typically fallen short of.

Moving on, though. He took a sip of his coffee, gesturing for the kid to take a seat. "Make yourself at home, kid. Far be it from me to mistreat Neo's pet."

Taking the light jibe for what it was, Jaune let out a little laugh as he pulled up one of the chairs. "I feel like I should be offended, but considering how the two of us met I, uh, guess I don't have much ground to stand on."

Roman snorted. "Can say that again. Neo's a gal who doesn't want for much until she sees something that catches her eye. And then all bets are off. She doesn't exactly play by other folks' rules, after all." After a moment of silence in which the teen just kind of sat, still slightly reeling from the events of the previous night, and Roman himself merely occupied himself with his coffee, the ginger-haired man spoke again. "So'd you two end gettin' anything figured out about your Semblance or did ya' spend all night going at it like rabbits?"

Blushing at that, Jaune spoke up. "Er... well, some stuff got done." A tiny smirk came to his lips. "I can do this, now." His eyes changed from blue to the same mismatched color as the girl who'd stolen him away the day before, one a vivid pink and the other a deep chocolate brown.

After a moment, Roman was greeted with a mirror image of himself seated at the table.

Quickly noting that the kid had at least managed to gain Neo's illusory transformation ability, Roman nodded. His transformation was spot on with exception to the tone of the skin being ever so slightly off, almost unnoticeable even, and his bangs being a tiny bit too short.

Well, now. Wasn't that just neat? Taking another sip of his coffee, the thief grinned at his doppelganger in the chair. "Well, well. I was admirin' the view of Vale and now it's palin' in comparison to this fine gentleman in my kitchen." He joked... partly joked. He looked good and the kid was giving a _very_ fair rendition.

And with a sound like the muted shattering of glass, the blond teen was before him again, mismatched pink and brown eyes giving way to the ocean blue he'd begun with. "Hah. Neo said you would like that."

And speaking of Neo, as if called by her mention the girl padded back into the kitchen once more, her mug emptied and her hair having been brushed back into the immaculate precision Roman knew her for.

But she was still wearing the kid's god-awful hoodie and presumably nothing else, the now fully cognizant girl completely unconcerned by this as she quickly made her way into the seated teen's lap, pressing herself against him in a display of affection Roman would silently liken to a cat.

The kid seemed to share that idea, as his hand promptly found the girl's hair and began gently stroking it... like one would a cat.

Neo seemed pleased. He could almost imagine her _purring_ if not for the complete lack of vocalization from her.

Rolling his eyes, Roman threw back what remained of his coffee and released a contented sigh. "Right, then. I've got stuff to do and I would rather appreciate the two of you _not_ destroying the kitchen in a tantric sex-ritual."

With that said, he dropped his mug into the sink and took his leave.

Which left Jaune blushing profusely, the content Neopolitan in his lap unconcerned with her partner's jibes. Shifting to lock eyes with her most recent lay, the girl gave him a smirk.

Jaune was by no means an expert on her expressions, but that look was different than the ones she'd given him during their _activities_ the previous night, so he could safely say that wasn't what was on her mind.

But... well, that didn't narrow it down. "Uh... d-do I have something on my face?" He asked, somewhat uncomfortable with the attention.

The girl shook her head, a little exhale of air that amounted to a laugh coming from her lips. Soon enough a scroll was thrust in his face.

 _'I didn't exactly get to tell you last night, but you did pretty good for a first timer.'_ It was around that point Jaune realized that was _his_ scroll. How in the hell did she manage to get through without the password? That was just plain freaky. He continued reading, as Neo had managed to gauge his reading speed rather accurately and could tell that he had paused somewhere. Due to that, she had taken to shaking the scroll lightly, somewhat insistent. _'Moving on from that, we're going to put some work in on your Semblance today. The gist of it seems to be that you can copy what my Semblance does, so either you managed to get the same thing as me somehow, which is unlikely on such a scale that it's insane to even think it, or your Semblance copying mine is just what it does; copy other people.'_

After reading all of that, having placed one hand over her own on his scroll to calm her insistence and hold the thing still to read, in addition to just enjoying the soft warmth of her skin, Jaune hummed. "Uh... is that... weird?" He mumbled, unsure. He hadn't exactly known what he was getting into in the first place, having been along for the ride mostly. He felt almost disappointed that she had to pull her hand away from his to continue typing.

 _'Very much so. Depending on what you can actually do with that ability, what its limitations are, you could have something worth your weight in gold. At the very least.' _He paused for a moment, reeling at that information. Was this really that uncommon that she would emphasize that so heavily? Apparently so, judging by the next line. _'Since you're a noob at this, I'll explain more; a Semblance is something unique to you. Think of it as your soul manifesting in a way that affects the world around you. Not everyone has one, at least one that they're aware of, but those that do have a leg up on the competition right from the start.'_ The girl paused in her typing to shift in his lap some, making herself more comfortable. _'And you seem to be able to copy those. If it's a one time thing and you just ended up with my Semblance, that's already good; I'm not being arrogant when I say that the things I can do with my Semblance make me the most valuable asset Roman has.'_

Compared to anything else Roman had, she was infinitely more valuable. Valuable _underlings_ could still be replaced, material _objects_ could be reclaimed, and _wealth_ can simply be earned back. But what she offered was irreplaceable, and Neo knew that full well. Roman went to great lengths to keep her content, and as such she had no intentions of disappointing him in any capacity.

It wasn't just because they were friends, even if neither of them would willingly _admit_ it. Roman would treat her almost exactly the same way if he didn't like her so much, simply because she was that valuable.

That was one of the reasons why she was so content to let her guard down around the man. She knew he wouldn't betray her for anything in the world, because chances were whatever it was he was offered to do so... she could get it. And anything she couldn't get him? It was something Roman wouldn't _want_ to begin with.

So Neopolitan was content to let Roman see her with her hair down, so to speak. He himself often remained somewhat guarded even in her presence, but that was because he was easily the less valuable member of their arrangement and they both knew it. Neo didn't need him to function in any capacity, she could find another employer should she ever feel like it.

It kind of hurt to think about that, because she _did_ value Roman so much that she would never betray him like that.

From an _outside_ perspective, Neopolitan had no need for Roman Torchwick. But she knew full well that life just wouldn't be the same without her ginger boss man.

Keeping off that train of thought any further, Neo merely cuddled up again to her newest toy and idly tapped out more information for him to ingest. Goodness, was he comfortable... _'Since a Semblance is so unique, having the ability to copy them is like winning the lottery. If it's a one time thing, you struck gold by getting mine. If it's one at a time and you need to change it somehow, that's fine; just stick with my abilities, since I can show you how to use them, probably better than anyone else would teach you theirs. And if you can take multiples at the same time, jump through them whenever you want? You are quite possibly one of the luckiest people in the world.'_

And she was pretty lucky, too, for having found him first. Having someone with that kind of ability, no training whatsoever, transcripts to get into Beacon Academy, and a naivety that she could exploit to twist him to her own benefit? That was once in a lifetime right there.

On top of that, he was _hot_ under those clothes! _And_ a quick learner! And _not_ a quick shot! He'd kept going, and going, and _going_ and even though he had next to zero idea what he was doing he made up for it because he just _kept going!_

So yes. Neo was excited for the future; her newest plaything was already above and beyond any expectations she had when she dropped into his lap yesterday. Reaching up to brush one hand against his jawline, something that brought a flush to him, she giggled silently. Her pilfered scroll soon found his face once more. _'Go get ready. Armor, weapon, everything. You showed me you had stamina, and we're going to abuse that to the limit. We're going to make a man out of you in a whole different way than I did last night.'_

Jaune gulped at the rather... sharp look on her face as she said this, but nodded nonetheless. "O-Okay. Uh... are you going to let me up?"

A delicate brow was quirked at him, and Neo shifted in his lap so that her legs were listlessly dangling over the side of his own. Looking at him expectantly, it took the teen just a moment before he realized what she wanted.

So Jaune reached underneath her legs, marveling briefly at the softness of her for not the first time, before lifting the girl bridal style.

She grinned impishly at him and, despite _knowing_ that was a smile from the devil, Jaune felt his heart flutter at the sight of it.

* * *

Training with Neo, as Jaune had come to find, was hard. He had expected it would be, because all the things in life worth doing usually are, but actually _experiencing_ it was something else.

She gave him some basic pointers on footwork, hints on a few little things to look out for in a fight, where to look to try and get a feel for how the enemy is going to move. Little stuff, just hints and tips that he could use on a general level.

And then she proceeded to kick the crap out of him.

And then they repeated the process. Over and over again. For three hours straight.

The one good thing about this whole process, aside from the fact that Neo was still wearing _just_ his hoodie, was that Jaune could actually see some progress being made.

She came at him at a level that he couldn't beat. He just had to try and _survive_ the onslaught. If nothing else that on its own got him used to combat in a way that he'd never been before.

That was the most intensive part of the training. As a sort of cool down, she'd taken her own weapon, a thin blade within her umbrella, and walked him through a few basic motions of attack. Not really a "style" or anything like that, just... helpful advice on how to swing, where to aim, and so on. Again, it got him more used to the weapon in his hands.

Neo was giving him basics. The most basic of the basics, even, but that was what Jaune knew he needed. She had beaten that into him already.

Of course, after their cool down... Neo had gone right back to kicking his ass for another hour, though she had encouraged him to try and attack her if he saw an opening.

He didn't see many openings, and the ones he thought he saw were feints she left to try and goad him.

They worked most of the time.

This lead to now, where Jaune Arc was pinned beneath Neopolitan for what had to be the hundredth time today. The girl was straddling his chest, her knees pinning his arms to his sides.

For his part, Jaune was embarrassed more due to the fact that she had absolutely _no_ sense of shame than the fact that she had been beating him up all day.

Again; she was wearing _nothing_ but his hoodie.

And judging by the rather satisfied look on her face, she _knew_ where he trying to avoid looking. Almost chidingly, the girl slipped his purloined scroll out of his hoodie pocket and placed it between her legs, shifting just a bit to hold it with her thighs.

Jaune gulped, pants much tighter than before as Neo's hand slipped down between her legs and began tapping out a message on the scroll.

Gods above, _seriously_!? She was going to do that? Jaune felt his breath hitch as the girl above him casually carried on with her typing, a smug smile on her lips.

How was it that covering herself somehow made him _more_ excited? The way the skin of her thighs was pressed in by his scroll? The knowledge that something of his was hovering just scant few inches away from her crotch? How his hoodie had ridden up _just_ enough that more of her soft, creamy skin was on display, while his scroll was blocking the view of the most tantalizing part? Was it because with her now typing by holding the scroll between her thighs like that it would make for a _really_ misleading scene if someone walked in? Or because she was _forcing_ him to look at her now?

Stupid sexy Neo.

Her hand moved, leaving his scroll supported solely by the flesh of her thighs. He tried to get a hold of himself enough to read it, ignoring Neo's _very_ proud expression as she watched him squirm.

 _'You're learning. It's going to take a lot of work to get you up to Beacon's level, but I think we can manage. You'll need to come back here whenever you get a free moment, because we're going to have to work you to the bone. But you can take it, right?'_

Jaune grit his teeth and nodded, determination lighting up like a fire within him. "I am _not_ going to a waste of space. This is my dream and I'll fight for it until it kills me."

Neo quirked a brow, but smiled nonetheless. Again her hand darted between her legs, something which killed the mood he'd gotten into as he again was reminded of her bare crotch only a foot from his face and hidden behind nothing but the thin material of his scroll.

 _'You need a style. Not some mumbo-jumbo martial arts swordfighting crap from a Spruce Willis movie, but something you fall into when you fight. Right now you just swing that thing of yours around without any kind of intent behind it. You may as well be a kid with a foam pirate sword for all the good that will do you.'_ Jaune grunted at that, but carried on reading. _'I'm the best teacher you're going to get. Anything at Beacon will be shared with a class of other students, but you have me all to yourself.'_ Boy, did he ever... Jaune could definitely say he wasn't going to get the kind of special attention Neo gave him from his teachers at Beacon. _'You're not flexible enough to fight like me. I could **make** you that flexible, but it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of practice... not to mention some potential injuries that we can mostly hand-wave because Aura speeds up healing.'_

That got a little shiver out of him as he imagined the kind of crazy exercises he would have to do to reach that kind of flexibility. But... if it would make him stronger, then it was worth it. If he had to break himself to reach his goal, so be it. This was what he wanted and he was going to take it.

Seeing his resolute expression, Neo just giggled silently before poking out a few more lines of text on the scroll.

 _'You're going to fight **your** way, Jaune, and I'll fight **my** way. Just because you're a copycat doesn't mean you can't be a little original; that shield of yours is something I don't have, and you've got a more powerful build than me; if it wasn't for the fact that you knew I'd just beat you up again until you stayed down, you could have thrown me off any time.' _ He blushed and looked away with a grunt, admitting that as truth. Neo weighed like nothing and she had next to no leverage on him... but she'd just keep throwing him down as many times as it took to assert her dominance. He didn't look away long, though, because there was more she'd written. _'I think you can use that. You're not as flexible as me, but you don't need to be. I dodge almost everything because I'm petite. You can half-ass it with that shield of yours, use that to cover your blind spots as you dodge instead of bending in a way that makes it so they can't **exploit** your blind spot.'_

That made sense. Crocea Mors shield-sheath was an extremely durable piece of work, something that had a venerable, ancient feel to it. A few little scratches here and there from it's long and storied history, but never had the shield faltered under a blow. It was wide enough to cover his vitals easily if he was dodging, and Jaune briefly imagined himself pulling off some, as Neo had said it, half assed versions of her own dodges. He'd seen plenty of them, and while she never moved exactly the same way that she had before, there were some reactions she had that were practiced and experienced.

In theory, it seemed viable. She always seemed to have him completely in her field of view no matter how she dodged, because she bent in a way that let her do that. He couldn't do that, but he could cover the spots he couldn't see with his shield. If his footwork was more solid, something that would only improve over time, Jaune could see that really helping him.

A soft poke to his nose brought Jaune from his contemplation, the multi-colored girl straddling him having apparently typed up a whole new message during the course of his thoughts. He blushed at that, but also at the _sweet_ smile Neo had on her face. She was stunning, really.

Neo herself was actually just marveling at how cute Jaune could be when he was lost in thought before she drew his attention. _'Once I have you able to keep yourself alive, we're going to work on attacking. You **need** to get a handle on your sword or you're going to be halfway worthless. You have a week till Beacon starts up, and I want you acceptable at dodging and moving within the next few days so we can dedicate the rest to making you useful in a fight.'_

He nodded.

Another sweet smile from Neo, one that he honestly felt to be somewhat uncharacteristic of her after seeing the almost predatory expression on her face in their... "fights". She leaned forward, capturing his lips with her own in a surprising and chaste kiss before pulling back. His scroll came between their faces once more.

 _'Come take a shower with me, then we're going out somewhere. Trust me, you'll like it.'_

Jaune wasn't sure if she meant the shower or the place they were going, but a certain part of him had made up it's mind on just which thing it wanted right now.

* * *

Vale's commercial district house a great many warehouses for storage of product. It was also not particularly far from the safehouse Roman had set up in the A Scoop a Day ice cream parlor, which rested close to the river which separated residential from commercial district. That made said warehouses an ideal place to set up shop, as it were.

Roman sighed as he looked over his plans, glaring over the small wooden table in the back corner of the warehouse.

Briefly, he glanced around the building with a frown.

So much fucking Dust. Everywhere. And she wanted more of it. That was what he was doing right at this very moment, overlooking his most recent target.

From Dust Till Dawn was owned by a single elderly man who also appeared to be the owner of a food cart. Altogether a fairly soft mark, the man was getting on in age and was perfectly normal; no background at all that would leave him with connections to get back at them, no connections currently to any major players in the game. It was a solid mark, and especially so as the cozy little area the store operated in tended to be practically dead at night and his hours of operation were well beyond that point.

All he would need is some additional muscle to actually transport goods, but Cinder didn't want the White Fang to be involved just yet so he had to resort to other methods.

Junior's boys would be suitable. Useless in a fight, but they were physically capable and that's all he needed out of this. The one issue was that this area was fairly close to a police station, but the woman herself had stepped up and offered to act as the getaway pilot in one of the Bullheads he'd acquired. A part of Roman figured this was just one of her usual displays of her superiority, by putting him in close proximity to her he'd be forced to reel in his rampant dislike of the woman lest he anger her... but it was also free insurance on the heist, because he had a safety net.

Risk taker or not, Roman liked to be able to make decisions with no consequences. He did feel uncomfortable having Fall around, but he had little choice; her suggestion hadn't seemed like much of a suggestion at all.

But hey. Whatever. Fuck it, right? She wanted to help him rob some quaint little shack in Vale then fine, Roman wasn't gonna stop her. He couldn't stop her if he wanted to.

"... I need a smoke." The man muttered to himself, clicking his tongue irritably at the mental rant he'd just lost seconds of his life to. "Damn woman is getting to me even when I don't have to see her smug face."

That in mind, he whipped out his lighter and a cigar. All of the Dust in the warehouse was secured well away from his little corner nook which held the planning table, a few other little knicknacks of his, and an inconspicuous door to exit the warehouse entirely. He was confident that the Dust was all safely contained, as he'd personally overseen checks of each incoming crate multiple times before allowing the beleaguered goons he was working with at any given time to put them away.

One leak and one mishap was all it took to set this whole place off into a flaming metal death trap, and Roman was against that idea. While he had no earthly clue just what Cinder was actually going to need all this Dust for, despite him actively looking into it on the side so as to try and be one step ahead of her somewhere down the line, the criminal mastermind had a feeling that all of it going up in flame wouldn't exactly be according to plan.

In a big enough way that may get him killed.

So for now Roman was running a _very_ tight ship in regards to this operation, planning each and every little detail out with extreme precision, the likes of which would put the Atlesian busybodies to shame.

But for now, break time. The heist wasn't going to be a hard one; hell, it was one old man. The sole complication was how close the place was to the police station, but that just meant he had to do this on a timer. And with about four guys, easily acquired from Junior, he could clear the joint out easy in just a few minutes; well before the cops even got wind of the operation.

Placing the tobacco product to his mouth, Roman flicked open his lighter with a flourish and lit his cigar. Taking a deep, satisfying drag, the man released a moment later with a content smile. "Once this heist is up, I'll be on another. And then another. Least I'm good at this job, little as I want it." He wanted to steal something _cool_ , damn it. Not Dust.

Especially not _this much_ fucking Dust. There was nothing anyone could feasibly do with this much Dust unless they were just going to resell the shit. The White Fang _plus_ every criminal element in this goddamn city working in tandem as an army wouldn't have enough people to go through all of this Dust. It was absurd.

What the hell did she _need_ this for? Or... _did_ she need it at all? What could she really use this for that was actually practical? Was it even about _using_ the Dust?

Frowning at that latest thought, Roman slipped his scroll from the pocket of his jacket and made a quick check.

Scoffing, he shook his head. "Prices have gone up. Not _too_ much, but if stores keep going out of stock..." He ran a few calculations in his head, considered a few little factors here and there, and a few possibilities popped up that changed things. If the SDC saw opportunity, maybe, then there could be some fluctuations... depending on how much attention the VPD gave to this, and whether or not Huntsmen got involved... alright.

His calculations completed, Roman had a decent idea what would happen... or at least some of it.

First and foremost, Dust prices _would_ rise up significantly within the next three weeks if he continued with his usual schedule of heists uninterrupted. The surplus built up had been expended for the most part, and now everyone was being forced to place orders for more... all at once. Which was going to bump prices up. Enough that your common civilian would need to start making concessions in their Dust usage, and that those who weren't so well off would be practically in the gutter. Only the wealthier citizens of Vale could continue to keep their opulent habits untouched.

That in and of itself didn't bode well for Valean economy, something that made him cringe a bit. A city in a financial crisis was a city where there was less to steal, after all. But moreover, it would impact the morale of Vale.

Which could agitate the Grimm. And Grimm, when attracted by sufficient negativity, could be _very_ bad. Cost of living in the kingdoms tended to be fairly low for the simple reason that they couldn't afford to have too much suffering and sadness in one place; the poorest caste of people tended to be suffering and sickly, beggars and thieves, and absolute bastions of negative emotion.

Minimizing _that_ kept Grimm at bay just as much as their walls and defenses did.

If cost of living increased, those who were making it in life by the skin of their teeth wouldn't be anymore. Too much more rise and the middle class would cease to be middle and simply become slightly more well off than lower class. Dust was a commodity that was absolutely invaluable.

He hummed. Was that her plan, then? Increase negativity enough to provoke the Grimm? No, no, not her whole plan; too simple for Cinder Fall. But a facet of it, maybe. That could be important. She'd be increasing focus on the defenses, too, since more Grimm poking their noses at the gates would cause far more active defense. Potentially moving some of Vale's defenses from internal structures.

Taking another drag from his cigar, basking in the glorious sensation he'd come to love over the years, Roman allowed his train of thought to continue.

Cinder wanted him to believe she wanted the Dust for something, but he was now confident that was a front. She didn't need this Dust; not all of it, at least. This was to drive up prices, lower public faith in the authorities, and increase the strain on the people of Vale to live their lives. Doing so would agitate the Grimm, which was part of her plan if he was right.

There weren't many things you could really _do_ with Grimm, though. Roman jumped to the obvious conclusion that she was going to try and get the Grimm angry and inside of Vale.

And though he would never admit it, Roman Torchwick shivered at the thought.

Was she going to try and instigate a second Mountain Glenn? Right here in the main city?

Contrary to popular belief, Mountain Glenn did _not_ fall by coincidence. That mess was caused by _someone_. He knew that much for sure, having been forced to do some investigation due to how the fall put the ax to some his plans. The reports released to the public painted it as an unfortunate tragedy, but his inside sources had confirmed serious evidence towards intentional tampering. That had all been disregarded, though, because to hear that the fall of an honest to goodness _city_ as opposed to a little frontier village was bad enough without knowing it had been _caused_ by someone.

Admittedly, even his own guys hadn't found just who was responsible anywhere. Admittedly again, though, he put little effort towards it. Just knowing it had been the machinations of humankind as opposed to happenstance was all he needed. His resources which had been intended to move to Mountain Glenn to strengthen his position there were instead dedicated to bolstering himself even more in Vale, on guard for any tampering that could lead to the same fate, but there was nothing to lead him to think it was part of a greater plan.

Back to the point, though... was that what Cinder was up to? Was she legitimately aiming to destroy the city in it's entirety?

That was... crazy. Utterly insane. Bonkers, nutso. Ludicrous.

... it was also something he could see Cinder Fall doing, however.

But, then again, it could all be for the sake of distraction. If she got enough attention on the walls, perhaps she had a target inside the walls of Vale that would then be weakened?

Roman had no idea what that potential target would be, though. The council members? The CCT? Beacon Academy? Maybe even Amity, when the Vytal Festival kicked off later this year? For the moment he had to assume the worst just to make sure he wasn't caught with his pants down, assume that Cinder Fall wanted it all and would do whatever it took to get what she wanted.

He needed more information. She was keeping him in the dark, dividing him and her other unwilling recruits in the White Fang so they couldn't give one another all the pieces of the puzzle. They couldn't band against her if they couldn't communicate at all.

It was time he took advantage of Cinder's ignorance and began to figure out just how far this rabbit hole went.

Clearing his scroll of the research he'd done, Roman took another puff of his cigar and dialed a very _special_ man of his.

Only a single ring before the call was picked up. _"Hey, Cricket. Been ages since I heard from you, how's the wife?"_

Snorting at the coded response, which was also a not so thinly veiled jab at him, Roman replied. "Overbearin' per the usual. Got a bit to catch up?"

 _"I can make time for an old pal, for sure. Just a sec."_ From the other line, the ginger thief could hear a bit of laughter and casual banter as the man on the other end of the call made his excuses to leave the poker table early.

A few more moments and the line went quiet. _"It really has been some time, Roman. Half a year, almost, since we last had anything worth talking about."_ The voice was more serious now, though still with it's own humorous lilt.

Roman chuckled. "Things have changed. We're in deep shit, as you may be aware."

 _"Yes, well, the woman who tosses fire around like nothing was one clue. The fact that she's completely subjugated Adam **fucking** Taurus was another. But, you know what really cemented things for me? **Really** made me come to the conclusion that things are all kinds of messed up?"_

Humoring the man, Roman took the bait. "That'd be?"

 _"We're now **officially** working together. The White Fang is working with Roman Torchwick. That's just not even remotely right. What's the world coming to when self respecting terrorists are working with a guy like you?"_

Biting out a laugh, the master criminal decided to get to the meat of things. "You got a point. That said, though... our lovely benefactor and her plans have actually gotten to a place that concerns me enough that we need to take a more, ah, active stance."

 _"What? She just has you stealing Dust to arm her, and by extension us, right? How's that got your panties in a bundle?"_

Roman sighed. "If we ain't careful, we're gonna have another Mountain Glenn on our hands I wager."

The line went silent, this clearly having affected the man on the other end. _"How sure are you?"_ He asked, a good bit of fear in his voice at the thought.

"I ain't." Roman admitted flippantly, drawing a grunt from the other man. "It's a gut feeling, a hunch... but there's _some_ evidence. I am _not_ stealing Dust to arm her attack dogs. If that was the case we'd have moved on to stage whatever the fuck comes next by now." Roman tossed his hat to the table, running one hand through his hair and taking another deep drag. "I've got more Dust than there is use for. Only thing I can imagine is she just wants to deny the Dust to Vale."

 _"Which will jack up negativity and suffering, which will attract Grimm like flies..."_ A deep gulp as the man recognized the potential there. _"Do you really think she'll do it? You actually work closer to her than any of us grunts do. If she could get enough Grimm sniffing around, find some way to get through the walls..."_

"No doubt in my mind that she's willing to do just that if it suits her needs." He replied uneasily, shaking his head. "May not even be her end goal. May just be a step on the way towards somethin' else. We need to actually get stock of the situation. I _need_ you to up your game." He chuckled a bit. "This is not a drill, I repeat this is _not_ a drill. Your income is gonna get a bit heftier soon, but it's hazard pay pal."

 _"Roman, by this point I'm probably filthy **stinkin** ' rich anyway because of your payments. I can't use them while I'm here, remember? All that builds up."_

"I _know_. It's why I'm motivating you with lien _and_ the threat of our entire fucking kingdom coming down on us."

 _"Gods I hate it when you're right."_ The man groaned loudly. _"What do you need to know?"_

"Literally everything. I can't afford to dismiss even the dumbest rumor around your camp right now. This shit is serious."

A loud sigh echoes out. _"I'll send you every little speck of dirt I find, then, boss. First and foremost, you remember just who was working along with Taurus here in Vale?"_

Roman paused, briefly trying to recall. "You talking about, ah, Bella... donna? Yeah, the kid of Menagerie's big daddy chief. What of her?"

 _"She's gone. Up and abandoned Adam on a mission the very day after our mutual benefactor made her first offer to him, when he refused. Dunno if the two events are related, but she never did more than shadow Adam about so her running off didn't seem important enough to mention."_

The thief hummed for a moment. "Any idea where she got off to? Or what spooked the kitty-kid?" The day after Cinder Fall's arrival, she left? Was that a coincidence or was there some relation between the two?

 _"Ghira Belladonna was the leader of the Fang when they were peaceful protesters and nothing more. His values probably stuck with her even through the militarization of the Fang, so she finally got cold feet. I don't know where she went, but... well, you can find out if you need to I'm sure."_ Another pause. _"I'll get back in touch with you when I get more information."_

Roman grinned wryly, glad to see one of his best was ready to roll. "I'm countin' on you here, Perry. Don't let me down, yeah?"

Snorting in response, the man on the other end of the line replied simply. _"When have I **ever** let you down, Roman?"_

"Just what I wanted to hear." He mumbled as the call came to an end, leaning back with one hand coming to rest over his eyes and the other slipping his scroll into his pocket. Discarding his used-up cigar, the man shook his head.

They were in such a shitty situation.

He'd put Perry into the White Fang years back when they started acting up on his turf, to keep an eye out and make sure they didn't get in his way on a heist or cause any trouble with the gangs he sponsored or storefronts he managed. None of the stores had any kind of anti-Faunus policy to begin with, so they tended to be safe, but there had been some... incidents with the gangs in the area.

Perry had been useful in the Fang, and was practically the only agent Roman had that could have done this. By sheer coincidence, Perry was a Faunus while _also_ being a fairly talented individual in the subtle art of infiltration. He'd only really needed him there for a few years while they were still new to the area, unknowns. A threat. He'd been ready to let his favorite infiltrator ditch the fools in the coming months, but Cinder Fall complicated things.

Now Roman was extremely glad he hadn't given his man the orders to pull out just yet. He needed to know what Cinder had the White Fang doing, it could help him put the puzzle pieces together to get something out of the insanity.

But, then, what could he even do against Cinder Fall?

For the moment, not a damn thing. He'd be ready the second there was something to jump on, but the woman was a professional if nothing else. She was prideful for good reason, because she was _good_. Alarmingly good, because Roman had never even heard of the woman before. Even now his sources were investigating her as subtly as possible so as to prevent it from getting back to him if she managed to catch wind of it.

Who _was_ Cinder Fall that she could just come out of nowhere like that and blindside almost all of the major players in Vale?

* * *

When Neo had said they were going out somewhere, Jaune hadn't been sure just where she'd meant. Any number of possibilities really came to him, and he didn't have any real way to narrow it down at all. He was kind of in the dark.

So while he likely would've been surprised with just about anything they ended up doing, he still had to admit that a clothing store was one of the last places he expected his new acquaintance to bring him to.

It must have been a clothing store Neo frequented, seeing as how the clerk at the counter had no reaction to them appearing out of thin air. The brunette woman merely regarded them with a quirked brow before rolling her eyes and returning to her fashion magazine.

Jaune, for his part, was kind of lost. Of all the things he did pick up from his sisters, fashion was not one of them. He wore clothing for comfort more than any other factor.

Seeing as how he was so far out of his element, he found himself just letting Neo drag him along, a smile on his lips as she giddily tugged him towards the back of the store where the dressing rooms were.

That smile died within the first ten minutes and has since been replaced by an expression which screamed "someone please save me, I can't take much more."

Neo seemed quite pleased by his suffering as she continually dressed him up in a wide variety of random outfits for what seemed like an eternity.

That lead to now, where Jaune found himself in possibly the most _normal_ outfit he'd had the pleasure of trying on at all. A scroll found it's way to his face, and the blonde teen sighed.

 _'Make the pants blue.'_ Neo demanded, that same smug smile on her lips as always.

"Navy or...?" Jaune assumed she wanted him to choose a particularly dark shade since she liked the contrast between the brightness of his hair and whatever he was wearing.

At her nod, he continued on; the black slacks he was wearing were now a dark blue.

This was part of the training too, in a way, or so she'd said. Personally Jaune felt like Neo just liked to hassle him; she'd had him changing his clothing's appearance this whole time rather than trying on different colors.

Admittedly it was faster than running around, a bit more precise too since they knew just what looked good and could just run to grab it. Really, the most difficult part of the whole thing was that he was now being instructed on how to use one of Neo's _other_ abilities at the same time.

Projected illusions. They weren't solid enough to interact with and shattered like glass at a touch, but they could be made into lifelike projections of people, objects, or anything really.

Currently, he was trying to preserve his dignity by maintaining the illusion of a closed changing room curtain. Neo had forbidden him from actually closing it, so if he messed up then anyone could see him changing.

Jaune was trying not to mess up, but this particular ability was a bit hard to control and took fairly constant concentration. He'd seen the curtain he projected waver multiple times and nearly disappear on him once.

He was mostly safe now, fully dressed as he was and garbed in a pair of pants that Neo had decided suited him, even if she wanted to play with the color settings some.

Gone was the hoodie, his old friend through thick and thin. He would still certainly wear it from time to time, but a sneaking suspicion came to him that _Neo_ was going to be using it more than him seeing as how she'd been so comfortable in his hoodie.

In it's place was a simple white button up shirt. He still fully planned to wear his armor, it'd be wasteful not to, but for the moment he only had his wrist armor. While usually it was halfway tucked into his gloves, right now Jaune was without those as well. So he'd been more thorough in his tightening of the small bracers, which started at his wrist and only went back a few inches. The off-white color and metallic grey trim fit with the white of the shirt just fine, in his opinion. He didn't look, well, bland for lack of better term.

A pair of, currently, navy slacks and black monk-strap shoes made up the attire of his lower body. His tennis-shoes didn't mesh with the more classy look at all, and Neo seemed insistent that any associate of theirs needed to be suitably dashing.

It wasn't a bad look, not really. The shirt was comfortable, he'd tried on like six different pairs of each type of the shoes presented to find one that was moderately comfortable and easy to move in, the pants were also comfortable and easy to move in.

He'd been allowed to keep his criss-crossing belts for practicality's sake seeing as how he had his storage pouches and the lock for Crocea Mors. His elbow-pads were on as well, gunmetal grey and slightly worn leather. Off to the side were his shoulder pads and chestplate, not currently worn due to just how much of a pain it would be to take them off once they were on and vice versa.

Instead, he again used Neo's Semblance to make them appear on him.

Turning to the girl with the new look complete, he shrugged his shoulders. "How is it?"

 _'It's not bad.'_ Neo admitted, typing that up quickly before pulling the scroll back for another series of taps. _'I feel like it's missing something, though. Stay here a minute. I know just what you need.'_

And with that, the multicolored girl was off.

Jaune sighed, leaning back against the wall of the changing room and letting the illusions fade; the pants came back to black, the armor on his chest and shoulders disappeared. He chuckled a bit, amazed by just how... fantastic this whole situation was.

He had been just a regular guy not even two days ago, having cheated his way into Beacon Academy with no idea what he'd face there. It had been a stupid decision, as he'd learned from the reality check of Neo utterly trashing five guys who he couldn't even dent. Those had been normal street toughs and he'd been run over like nothing.

If he drew his sword, maybe he would've had a chance, but Crocea Mors wasn't his go-to for fighting unarmed civilians. Neo had smacked him upside the head for that admission, though, and told him quite plainly that it was either them or him.

His worldview was going to be undergoing some drastic changes if he continued to stick with Neo, but he'd already agreed. He was in deep, honestly, because trying to back out didn't seem feasible with, well, _her_ as the one he'd have to cross to do it. It would leave him with a sour taste in his mouth seeing as how she had been one of the most genuinely... well, helpful wasn't the right word he supposed since it was a mutual agreement. But she had done more for him in the sense of training than anyone in the world before her, and that meant a lot to Jaune. Not to mention the _other_ things they'd done... she was his first. And then his second less than a day later.

Then there was the fact that she could and possibly would kill him for abandoning her after making their deal. Neo had a sadistic and dangerous side to her, as their training had shown him.

Honestly, though, a part of Jaune figured he'd deserve it if he backed out of things so easily. He gave his word, and that meant something. It _had_ to mean something, because that was all he really had.

"Hey now, someone's looking snazzy." A confident voice called out, drawing Jaune's attention towards the fact that he'd apparently lost concentration on the damn curtain. Thank goodness he was dressed. Had his eyes faded back to blue as well? A quick glance in the mirror confirmed it. Okay, so at some point during his mental rant he'd turned off the copycat thing.

Immediately upon hearing the compliment, Jaune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and smiled. "Thanks. I, uh, guess I needed a makeover." He took a moment to glance over the girl who had approached him.

She was pretty, that much was certain, but moreover he had to say she looked _cool_. Her sweater was stylish, a soft cocoa brown color that was secured to her by some kind of dark brown leather cinch or something. Her colors consisted mostly of those blacks and browns, some browns close enough to look like black from a distance. The girl definitely knew she looked good, too, because she was _rocking_ those black trousers and high heeled boots. Offering him a sly grin, the girl pulled her shades down to regard him and revealed a pair of chocolate brown eyes. "That's not just gear for looking good, either, huh kid? Planning to get into some scraps are we?"

He noted that her own clothes didn't seem too civilian either. "Unless the bullets are a fashion statement, I guess I'm not the only one?" Jaune asked with a chuckle, making note of the golden cased bullets lining her handbag's strap and her belt.

The girl nodded approvingly, grin getting a bit wider. "Girl has to protect herself. It's a big bad world out there. What am I gonna do, hit them with my handbag?"

Jaune conceded that with a nod. "I guess so. I'd take a gun over a purse any day." Even if he'd never fired a gun in his life. The brunette seemed to notice that even though it went unsaid, glancing at his belt to see Crocea Mors hooked there.

"Looks like you've got yourself more of a classic there, though." She replied, nodding to the sword.

He shrugged, chuckling a bit. "I guess so." He echoed his early statement, wincing a bit as he realized that but earning little more than a chuckle from the brunette. His own sword was visibly simple. Even at a glance, most people could see outright that there was no particular mechashift function... at least anything overtly projectile. Crocea Mors was a simple but sturdy blade, shield simply unfurling from the sheath which held it.

Judging by the bullets this girl was toting around, her weapon of choice was probably a gun of some sort. He didn't see any weapon on her, though. Not really knowing what to say, Jaune couldn't help but feel his face heat up a bit as he was now faced with one of his greatest weaknesses; social interaction.

The girl who'd approached him seemed to have figured that out immediately, her grin widening. "Name's Coco. You?" She asked, providing him an easy out.

"Ah, Jaune. Jaune Arc." He latched onto this immediately. "Nice to meet you." And thank you oh so much for saving him from awkwardness. He hardly had time to be awkward with Neo latching onto him immediately, but normal conversation seemed to bring out his social ineptitude immediately.

... maybe it was because Neo didn't actually talk? Food for thought.

But rather than sit back and look awkward, Jaune decided to _talk_ and be awkward. "So, ah... you come here often?"

"Little bit." Coco replied teasingly. "It's my favorite clothing store." She nodded outside to the plaza, visible even now through the windows of the storefront. "Lots of places around here a girl can have herself a good time."

"That's cool." Jaune replied, unsure what else to say. "I'm, ah, still kind of new to Vale. It's a big place. Friend of mine dragged me out here because she thought I, uh, needed a makeover." Seriously, his awkward handling of conversations hadn't come up with Neo or even that ginger guy, Roman. Though his confidence _was_ kind of at an all-time high when he talked to that guy... his face flushed a bit as the memories of just why his confidence had spiked came rushing back to him.

The girl noticed, quirking a brow at him. She laughed a bit as this only made him blush more, shaking her head. "Geeze, kid, I'm not gonna bite. You said your friend dragged you here?"

"Er, yeah." He stumbled out, trying to get himself back under control. "Something about how no associate of hers was going to look like a hick."

"Hah!" Coco barked out a laugh, grin overtaking her face. "Sounds like a girl after my own heart. Gotta say, though, not sure you're pulling off the monochrome look there. Have you considered going for a shade of blue?"

Jaune couldn't help the exasperated groan the came from that statement. So it _wasn't_ just a Neo thing, this "fashion" thing she was forcing upon him. "She said the same thing, as a matter of fact. Ran off to go find "just the thing" I needed to finish off the look, too. I have _no_ idea what she'll come back with."

The brunette grinned, about to say something more, but a sudden ringing came from her scroll and the device appeared like magic, that was just how quickly she retrieved it. Brows furrowing, the girl's original statement was forgotten. "I've gotta dash. Nice meetin' you kid, sorry to cut this short but it looks like my team misses me." She began to walk off, before pausing mid-step and looking over her shoulder. A wide grin crossed her lips. "Word of advice before I go; figure out a landing strategy."

And with that, she was gone.

Jaune was rather confused, honestly. "... A landing strategy? What?" Weird girl. Cool, though. Very cool in fact.

He continued to ponder over just what the heck she meant by landing strategy all the way up until Neo found her way back to him.

The girl seemed to appear out of nowhere, and immediately she thrust her hands out, presenting him "just the thing" she had been looking for.

It was a vest. Well, a tail coat... vest? He didn't really know what it was called, to be honest, but it was essentially a vest with coat tails. Not quite like her own outfit, but a sort of similar vein.

She pushed it towards him insistently, and Jaune relented by taking the clothing item from her, looking it over some more as he held it. It was black, which would apparently go well with the blue and white he was meant to have. The vest was thin enough that wearing his armor over it wouldn't be any hassle, either. The lining was actually a golden color that immediately reminded of his family's symbol, which was emblazoned upon the shield of Crocea Mors. Three golden buttons on the left side to hold it closed, with a pair of pockets that he almost didn't notice on the sides. And the tail wasn't really long, a sort of rounded triangle shape that had a slit cut all the way down it, it'd fall to mid-thigh if he had to guess.

Having finally gotten it on, Jaune quickly clasped the buttons and, seeing the look on Neo's face, he chuckled sheepishly before his eyes retook the appearance of her own.

"Sorry. Got distracted." He apologized, recreating the curtain with some difficulty. Neo inspected it, before nodding. It was acceptable, then, that was good. She looked back to him expectantly.

Taking a breath and trying to maintain focus on the curtain while simultaneously changing his appearance, Jaune again made use of the mental scene, walking through a veil of water and coming out as something different. He let it paint his pants to that dark navy blue, let it form into the armor on his chest and shoulders, and let it shade his eyes back to blue.

Soon enough, Jaune Arc was staring at the full-length mirror in the room, his white button-up shirt covered by the tailcoat and then that covered again by the white of his armor. His navy pants, the sleek black shoes, and the crisscrossing belts at his hip seemed to work fine together as well.

Altogether, Jaune had to admit he looked more... professional than before. Suave, even. He gave a smile at the mirror, imagining himself as some sophisticated secret-agent type from the movies. His armor was fairly sleek, only covering his upper torso and shoulders, and the dark brown leather straps didn't stand out quite so much against the black of the vest as they slipped over his shoulders to secure his chest plate.

Neo seemed to approve as well, stepping up next to him. He could visibly see her influence in the outfit, the more... theatrical look obviously being her preference. But he couldn't say he didn't _like_ the way he looked. It never really occurred to him before just how an outfit change could make someone look different without even changing much.

"I like it." He eventually said, offering her a smile. She grinned back at him, as if to say 'of course you do, _I_ picked it out', but he didn't retort. After a few moments, his smile softened a bit and her own expression shifted to something questioning. "Thank you, Neo. Even if this is a mutual thing, you're doing more to help me reach my dreams than anyone else has."

A strange expression came to her face, one he didn't recognize, before the girl just shrugged... and then a particular grin he _did_ recognize found her, as she quickly pressed him back down onto the bench.

He tried to question what she was doing, but before he could even get a response out Neo had slid the curtains closed behind them, shattering his suddenly shaky illusion in the process, and then claimed his lips for herself.

Now they were going to _have_ to buy these clothes out of principal, but on the upside, Jaune _was_ beginning to put serious progress towards checking things off his list of "fantasies I don't expect to come true." solely due to one Neopolitan.

* * *

 **AN:**

This took some time, solely because I'm a lazy bastard. I still feel the urge to go over Roman's scene multiple times due to just where I'm taking that particular plot point and how I want it to be air-tight, but for the time being I've decided it's fine.

This chapter is sort of a settling in chapter for Jaune. He's getting used to how things will be if he pursues this path, that is to say basically being Neo's protege/sex toy. He's still going to be rather far behind the other Beacon students such as RWBY/NPR, but he should have enough ability to him that one Mr. Winchester will not pose significant threat. He deals with something much smaller and more deadly than him on the regular, after all.

I don't recall if I mentioned this before, but this story is one of the most planned and plotted out of any story I've ever written. I've a general line of events that goes all the way to V4 from here that will put me in a very interesting position to write from, and the events of this story should be greatly entertaining to read if I know people the way I think I do.

Anyway. Next chapter is going to be the introduction to Beacon, probably first day/initiation, and so on. See you then.


End file.
